Remember When Parents Told Us How Expensive College Was? This Generation is Spending More on Daycare!

Many of us grew up in an era where we were told just how expensive it was to go to college. Whether we were going to pay for it or our parents were, THAT was sort of 'the' big expense that was going to loom over us during our childhood years.

But my how times have changed. I know a lot of parents that have young children in daycare and the costs that I hear them talking about or seeing on signs as I drive around Sioux Falls are MUCH higher than when I went to college. I started wondering what the cost differential was today.

The Washington Post this week posted an article comparing the costs of daycare to sending a son or daughter to a state-run college in all 50 states. Here in South Dakota, college still does cost more than daycare, by about $1000 a year.

In Minnesota, that's not the case where daycare actually outpaces college by about $2000 a year! In New York it's even worse. Daycare runs parents about $15,000 a year! By comparison, college in New York is only about $6500. No wonder I hear about families where one of the parents stays home from working because it's more cost effective than paying for daycare!

According to The Washington Post article, daycare costs outpace college tuition in 31 of the 50 states!

So if you're wondering what profession to get into, I'd suggest getting licensed, bonded, and opening a daycare. It's hard work, but apparently the pay is phenomenal.

How much do you pay for daycare?